Briefing on the government's response to COVID-19 - Wednesday 22 July 2020

Delivered by Elizabeth Canavan, Assistant Secretary General, Department of the Taoiseach

Good morning everyone,

I want to begin by acknowledging that as more of us are moving around and interacting with each other there has naturally been an increase in the number of confirmed cases we are hearing about each evening. We are still in a good position with the disease but it is natural that with more activity there will be more infections.

The most important thing that I can do today is remind everyone once again of the vital steps we can all to help protect ourselves and each other:

• wash your hands regularly and thoroughly – especially after you have been out and about or in and out of other peoples’ homes or businesses
• continue to observe good cough and sneeze etiquette
• maintain social distancing – keeping two metres apart from people when possible and avoid crowds
• exercise your judgement around where you spend time. Remember - if a place looks and feels unsafe, it probably is
• continue to try to keep your social interactions to a minimum to limit the amount of contacts that you have
• and finally, wear face coverings, on public transport, in shops and shopping centres, and in all indoor settings where social distancing is difficult

I want to say a little more about face coverings. I don’t think there are many people who like wearing them? They can be a little bit uncomfortable, they may make you feel self-conscious, or maybe your glasses fog up like mine do. And I know some people simply can’t wear them for good reasons. But if you can, please wear a face covering on public transport, in shops and anywhere social distancing is difficult. You’re doing it for yourself, your friends, your family and all of the people on the front line who are delivering services for every one of us.

That isn’t to say face coverings are some special shield. But they are another element which add to other more important measures mentioned.

Remember - it is these simple things that make you your own frontline of defence against COVID-19. We need to hold firm and stay safe.

In recent weeks we have seen a small number of manageable outbreaks of COVID-19 in individual workplaces in the retail, construction and hospitality sectors. These clusters have all been managed well and successfully contained. However, if these clusters become larger or more frequent they could represent a real risk to public health and they will place a great strain on the resources of the Health Service Executive.

Therefore, I want to appeal to employers and employees today. I am asking employers to look again at the Return to Work Safely Protocol. Make sure that all the necessary safety measures are in place and are still being adhered to and that complacency has not set in over recent weeks.

I am asking employees to continue to play their part by prioritising their safety and taking every measure they can to protect themselves and their colleagues. In particular, remember that you still need to keep a physical distance from each other at all times - even if your colleagues seem healthy, they could still be carrying the virus.

And as I’ve said before, the final ask is of the public. Many transport and retail workers have been on the front line since the beginning of COVID-19 and we have all relied on them, so let’s play our part as well.

As a society, we all need to know the symptoms of COVID-19, and when we see them we have to report them. This week GPs are reporting that they are seeing increasing cases and that they are referring more and more people for testing. The thing to remember is that this is what is supposed to happen. The fact that we have access to testing, that we can spot clusters and track symptoms, that we are learning about the virus, all of this shows that the system is working and we are making progress. However, the system does not work where people do not report or delay in reporting their symptoms.

When this happens, it puts not only the person but everyone around them at risk. So if you are feeling unwell, if you have a high temperature, if you have a cough of any description, if you feel short of breath or if you feel that you have had a change in your taste or your smell, you need to notify your GP so that they can arrange testing for you.

Your GP is not there to judge you - they’re there to help. Getting a test is how you keep your family, friends and colleagues safe. Catching the virus is incredibly easy as we all know, it’s highly infectious. Sometimes people will be unlucky and they will catch COVID-19 despite taking preventative action. So there is no shame in catching COVID-19.

What matters is that if you think you have the virus you let it be known so you can get the care you need and we can figure out who else might be at risk.

We are pleased to see the HSE’s COVID Tracker Ireland app has been chosen as one of two global open source projects by the Linux Foundation Public Health initiative, in a global effort to help suppress the COVID-19 pandemic and share technology solutions.

It is a significant endorsement of the work carried out by the team behind the COVID Tracker app.

The COVID Tracker app is now available in app stores globally.

This means anyone living and working in Ireland that has a Google or Apple account in another country can now download the app and play their part in helping to suppress the virus.

We are also encouraging anyone travelling to Ireland from other locations to download and install the app while they are here so they can become part of the Irish contact tracing community.

Remember - the Covid Tracker app will play an important part in helping everyone to stay safe and protect each other and support our contact tracing and testing operations.

Downloading and installing the app takes two minutes, and is a simple and effective way that you can help the fight against the virus by protecting yourself, your family, your friends, and many people you don’t even know.

There has been much talk of a vaccine and speculation around when one will be available.

We are actively monitoring all potential mechanisms available to procure vaccine stocks as soon as it becomes available.

Ireland has signed Expression of Interest (EOI) letters with two separate international mechanisms:

• a joint EU approach to COVID-19 vaccines procurement - This is intended to ensure a coordinated action at the European level to protect public health and achieve optimal management of COVID-19 through vaccination
• the COVAX initiative - Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, that’s a new global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines

Almost 68,000 employers are now registered with Revenue for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

An estimated 415,000 employees are currently being supported by the scheme having received a subsidy in their most recent pay period.

Today (22 July), Revenue has generated further payments to employers under the scheme of €22.7 million.

These payments will be in the bank accounts of the majority of the respective employers tomorrow (23 July).

The cumulative value of payments made to employers under the scheme is now over €2.1 billion (€2,135 million).

This week, approximately 313,800 people who were unemployed last week received their weekly payment under the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme.

This is a reduction of approximately 31,800 on the number of people paid last week.

This payment was made on 21 July to their nominated bank account or Post Office. The overall value of the weekly payment is in the region of €97 million.

This is a decrease of approximately 100,000 over the last 2 weeks and almost 50% since the peak, which reached 598,000 on 5 May.

In total, approximately €2.9 billion has been paid up to and including 21 July.

Returning to Work – Reminder to close PUP payment

Last week, approximately 21,800 people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment closed their claim because they were returning to work.

Approximately 13,100 of these received their last unemployment payment this week because they were unemployed in the payment week.

Since the start of the reopening, approximately 258,000 people have closed their claim as they have returned to work.

If you are returning to work today, you should close your claim as you return to work. If you are starting work later in the week, you should close your claim on the day you return to employment.

To close your unemployment claim, you should log on here.

The take-up of support measures to assist businesses during the pandemic continues to grow.

Applications for the Restart Grant, which can be made through the Local Authorities, have now risen to 42,766 applications with 31,022 approved, resulting in over €128 million in grant payments to small businesses.

The Item was unpublished or removed continues to be very popular and to date a total of 7,687 applications have been made to the Local Enterprise Offices for the Scheme with 4,847 of these approved to a value of €11.42 million.

The Community Call Fora, run by the local authorities, are still operating.

Last week, they received approximately 530 calls, and made approximately 300 follow-up calls to people who have contacted them.

That’s approximately 52,800 calls and 20,800 follow-up calls since 31 March.

Helplines operate from 9am to 5pm seven days a week and if you need help, you can find your local helpline number here.

As Ireland continues to face the COVID-19 challenge, additional measures must be taken in order to provide safe and secure homes for all our communities. Yesterday the government launched a “Call for Housing 2020” asking property owners and developers with vacant properties to make them available for use as social housing.

A range of properties are needed, from one-bed properties to larger family homes as well as homes that can be adapted for those with a disability and those that are suitable for older people.

A range of options are available to property owners to assist in providing social housing supports including a secure letting arrangement through the Long Term Social Housing Leasing Scheme. This scheme would provide owners with a stable return on their investment during an uncertain time for the property market.

More information on the Call for Housing 2020 is available here.

I know that many older people, in particular, have been really feeling the brunt of the restrictions that we have had to endure over that last number of months. Maybe you haven’t been able to see your family or do your usual activities or even enjoy the normal day to day social interactions that we all need to avoid feeling isolated.

This week a €500,000 investment in a new programme of creative activity for older people was announced. The programme will be delivered by Creative Ireland through its strategic national partners and the local authorities.

The Creativity in Older Age Programme has been designed to counteract the side effects of the pandemic and rebuild the connections lost among those who have had to isolate themselves in recent months.

The programme will begin immediately and will be rolled out over the next 18 months. It will include projects delivered by a host of bodies such as Age and Opportunity, The Irish Hospice Foundation, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art among many others. The projects will vary greatly in theme from projects teaching music and dance, to those designed to help articulate the feelings around death and bereavement.

25 creative projects for older people will be delivered with local authority partners around the country.

More information on the Creativity in Older Age programme is available here.

It is the clear goal of the government, in collaboration with all education stakeholders, to support the education system so that we can welcome our pupils and staff across our school communities back into a safe environment at the start of the new school year.

Planning has been underway for a number of months with these stakeholders. Interim public health advice from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre is being used to inform all planning around returning to school. It sets out that there can be a different approach at different ages and stages.

Draft COVID-19 plans for both primary and post primary schools are being progressed.

Detailed stakeholder engagement has been a critical factor in identifying the complex challenges that will arise for schools and school leaders. These challenges range across a number of areas, including logistical challenges in meeting cleaning and physical distancing requirements, curriculum and assessment matters, and the wellbeing and welfare of the school community on reopening. Engagement is now strongly focused on the shape and design of solutions that are both workable and supported by sufficient resources.

A considerable financial support package to assist schools in reopening is currently being planned by Government with further details to be announced in the coming days.

Today sees the publication of a report on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for policy in relation to children and young people.

This issue has been one that the government has been tracking through COVID-19 and that has been clearly identified in the Social Impact reports informing the lifting of restrictions.

The report, published by the ESRI, draws on existing and emerging Irish and international research on the effects of the pandemic restrictions on children and young people.

It concludes that:

• school closures and the lack of face-to-face interaction with peers and broader family networks are having direct effects on children’s and young people’s lives
• the impact of the pandemic will be felt the most by young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs
• parental job loss and the possibility of longer-term unemployment will affect child wellbeing through greater stress in families

Reports such as this provide a valuable resource for Government as we work to address the impacts of the crisis. It points to where we need to target responses and resources and informs our approach to how we can support children and young people through these unprecedented difficulties.

Government has been very aware of these impacts and that is why the Taoiseach has placed such an emphasis on the reopening of schools as we try to balance the public health, social and economic risks of easing restrictions.

Yesterday, the Cabinet agreed to change the travel advisory for a small number of locations to ‘Normal Precaution’.

These locations are:

Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Greenland, Gibraltar, Monaco, and San Marino.

For further information on this, please see the Department of Foreign Affairs website.

The overarching advice is still that staying at home is the safest thing to do.

If you have to travel to a location other than those listed, you are will be asked to restrict your movement for 14 days.

The Passenger Locator Form will have to be filled in on arrival in Ireland and processes are being strengthened for completion, follow up, and to ensure everyone arriving knows what the public health advice is and how to know the symptoms.

There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the prison population in Ireland. This is a testament to the hard work and planning of our Prison Service, who implemented decisive safety measures in a timely and thoughtful way at the beginning of this pandemic. The prison population to date has co-operated and worked closely with the Prison Service to help keep prisons COVID-19 free.

In the interests of the safety of both prisoners and prison staff physical visits to prisons were stopped in March. Although a system of online virtual visitation was put in place, this has nevertheless been a very difficult sacrifice for prisoners and their families throughout the past four months.

Following weeks of hard work on the part of the prison service, physical visits to prisons will be reintroduced on a carefully phased basis starting this week.

All visits will be conducted in line with public health guidance. Visitor’s temperatures will be checked on arrival and they will be provided with PPE to wear during visits. No physical contact will be allowed, sneeze screens will be in place in all visiting rooms, and a reduced number of visits will be facilitated each day. Physical visits will continue to be supplemented by the video visitation system which will continue to be in place.

In the past week, it has been announced that immigration permissions, due to expire between 20 July and 20 August 2020, will be automatically extended for one month.

This includes people in Ireland on short stay visas and those whose permissions have already been extended by the previous notices issued on 20 March and 13 May 2020.

These measures are put in place to reassure people who are worried about their status in the State that their legal status in the country will continue to be maintained.

It is intended this will be the final temporary extension of immigration permission, however, the situation will be kept under active review as matters evolve in our national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As I have indicated in previous briefs, the Registration Office in Burgh Quay in Dublin reopened this Monday 20 July for first time registrations on an appointment only basis. Priority will be given to those seeking to register for the first time.

All renewals in the Dublin area are now being processed online only. This will make the process of registration renewals easier for thousands of people every year, and will significantly reduce the number of people who need to attend the Burgh Quay Registration Office in person.

These past months have been difficult. Whether you are in the thick of it on the front line and are feeling exhausted or at home perhaps frustrated or lonely, maybe you are out of work, maybe you are worrying about your business. The important thing is to remember you’re not alone on the journey.

We are all having to accept some degree of uncertainty about what is going to happen next. There aren’t easy answers to the situation we find ourselves in in Ireland or across the world. But we are planning ahead and monitoring really closely everything that is happening to try to find the balance of responses and to keep you informed as best we can.

We are all in this together. Thank you.